U.S. calls for Africa to act on Zimbabwe

By Susan Cornwell and Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - African nations must speak out and help deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe following a post-election deadlock and ongoing chronic food shortages, U.S. President George W. Bush said on Thursday.

He raised doubts about the recent election because Harare has yet to release the results, and urged that the United Nations and African Union take a more active role to resolve the crisis.

"What kind of election is it if you (do) not let the will of the people be known?" Bush told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "More leaders in the region need to speak out and the United Nations and the A.U. must play an active role in resolving the situation in Zimbabwe."

Brown agreed the election results must be released to the public.

The vote must be seen "to be fair in the interest of democracy not just in Zimbabwe, but the reputation of democracy throughout Africa and the world," Brown said.

South Africa has come under strong criticism for not doing enough to help resolve the crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe, and Washington has been pushing South Africa to use its leverage.

"It's time for Africa to step up," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference earlier Thursday. "Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe?"

She said it was a matter for Zimbabweans whether President Robert Mugabe left office, but that the last few years of his rule had been an "abomination."

"I know the role that he (Mugabe) played in the liberation of Zimbabwe, but the last years have been really an abomination. It's a country that used to feed its neighbors and now it can't feed itself and by all of our accounts, those food aid numbers are going to go up dramatically for Zimbabwe," Rice said.

Once viewed as southern Africa's bread basket, Zimbabwe's economy is now in ruins with staggering inflation rates.

Rice brushed aside complaints about Western interference as Zimbabwe's troubles grow, particularly following the disputed March 29 presidential election.

"I've heard from some of outside interference of western powers. Well, all right, then let the AU and SADC (the South African Development Community) have a voice," Rice said.

Before the election, the United States had already imposed travel and financial sanctions on some 170 people with ties to Mugabe, who is accused of widespread human rights violations and of cracking down hard on the country's opposition. He has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Rice said the United States was also very concerned about government accusations of treason against Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, adding that the government needed to release the results of the March elections.

"They (the people) need to get the results and there needs to be a peaceful transfer of power, if that's necessitated," she said. "The longer they hold the results of the election, the more suspicion grows that something is being plotted and planned by the ruling party."

(Editing by Patricia Wilson and Vicki Allen)